Can you sell high end jewelry on Ebay?

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by acuman, Jan 10, 2007.

  1. #1
    Is Ebay mostly for finding cheapie products or is there a market to sell high quality expensive jewelry?

    My best friend works in the diamond district in Manhattan. They sell to jewelry stores. He can get me any of their jewelry/diamonds at wholesale price which means we can sell to the customer at a much better price than the stores do and still make a profit.

    BUT, these are not cheap items. Diamond rings, necklaces etc. that they have are anywhere from $1,000 to tens of thousands$. Probably for Ebay the items that are lower would sell better? But I don't know.

    What do you think?

    Anyone in the NY area? You can do the internet/online work and share the profit.
     
    acuman, Jan 10, 2007 IP
  2. vbMark

    vbMark Peon

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    #2
    Yes! People are selling houses and cars. My brother-in-law just purchased a dune-buggy thing.
     
    vbMark, Jan 10, 2007 IP
  3. jrbiz

    jrbiz Acclaimed Member

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    #3
    Absolutely you can do this. I sell hundreds of low-priced Ethernet and USB cables on eBay every month, but know many people who sell very high ticket items on eBay. I also recently read a success story in one of the business mags about a guy who was making a killing selling high end antique jewelry. Unlike me, who has a very low average sale, you will have to be very wary of scammers who are looking to rip off big ticket item sellers and may want to look into the various forms of protection that eBay and Paypal offer. You will also want to see the Feedbacks that any potential buyer has before consummating the sale. I suggest that you go to eBay and do a search for diamnond jewelry. You will likely get back thousands of returns and can see what is going on in that area pretty quickly.
     
    jrbiz, Jan 10, 2007 IP
  4. citruscommerce

    citruscommerce Peon

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    #4
    There are a number of large high-end jewlery stores on eBay, many even run 'live' auction 24 hours a day!

    I'm an eBay seller and while the bottom-feeders are an issue, there are plenty of people on there who don't mind paying a premium for premium merchandise :)
     
    citruscommerce, Jan 10, 2007 IP
  5. drig

    drig Peon

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    #5
    Yes, you can sell (almost) anything on ebay. If it will sell, well thats up to your auction, pictures, marketing, market conditions, and all that.
     
    drig, Jan 10, 2007 IP
  6. redz

    redz Well-Known Member

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    #6
    yep you can sell that, you will probably make a lot too, just sell "it" on ebay and get rich :)
     
    redz, Jan 10, 2007 IP
  7. acuman

    acuman Active Member

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    #7
    Thanks for your responses. Sounds like there is potential for that.
    Now i gotta figure out the best way to post items after my buddy sends me the pics.

    Besides posting items, is an Ebay store worth it? Or better just to make a website?

    Thanks!
     
    acuman, Jan 10, 2007 IP
  8. extremehardware

    extremehardware Well-Known Member

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    #8
    eBay is a tough market to break into for jewelry sales. You will need to build a reputation as an authentic dealer, make sure that all your jewelry is properly appraised, and lives up to what it's claimed to be.

    Only then will you be living the high life. ;)
     
    extremehardware, Jan 10, 2007 IP
  9. affihq

    affihq Peon

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    #9
    be prepared to get scammed by chargebacks, but other than that good luck.
     
    affihq, Jan 10, 2007 IP
  10. cyberoptik

    cyberoptik Active Member

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    #10
    I agree with extremehardware -- you want to appear very professional and to be an official entity. With so many people being scammed (buyers and sellers) people are always doubtful of new sellers and buyers. I would provide a phone number, address, or even a link to a website so that you appear more professional.

    You may also want to let local people meet you to view the products.
     
    cyberoptik, Jan 11, 2007 IP
  11. tkilgore

    tkilgore Well-Known Member

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    #11
    Ebay ... has the market for anything..I bought a 911 Porsche..and a few nice watches with diamonds and what not. So the market is there :0)

    Hey ..good luck.. !!
     
    tkilgore, Jan 11, 2007 IP
  12. ablaye

    ablaye Well-Known Member

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    #12
    It's very risky if you can me. And i don't know how many people would be willing to send several thoudands to a buyer before receiving, touching and feeling the goods.
     
    ablaye, Jan 11, 2007 IP
  13. freemenn

    freemenn Active Member

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    #13
    dipends.. i would not buy jewelry that costs :xxx.xx on ebay without seeing with my eyes what i buy...
     
    freemenn, Jan 12, 2007 IP
  14. Kel

    Kel Well-Known Member

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    #14
    I think the hardest part of selling things on Ebay is competing with the prices of all the dropshippers. I wanted to open an ebay store for clothing but theres so many out there.

    With hard work and after building a good reputation you never know. If anything it will draw more attention to the actual website.
     
    Kel, Jan 12, 2007 IP
  15. jrbiz

    jrbiz Acclaimed Member

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    #15
    One other thing to add about selling on eBay: make your product pages as clear and simple to understand as possible. I sell network and PC cables on eBay and am CONSTANTLY amazed and bemused by the ignorance and illiteracy displayed by a certain percentage of buyers. It is some times hard to understand how they are able to feed themselves or cross the street. This neanderthal subgroup of buyers will not read your terms, descriptions, shipping information, etc., and then leave you a negative feedback despite the fact that you delivered exactly what you said you would do. I now have over 8,600 feedbacks (100% positive), but it has not been easy. I am mostly a B2B marketer and this eBay B2C has been a real eye opener for me in this regard. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) is the buzzword for successful auctioning on eBay.

    Regarding your question about eBay Stores. I run one, but only because I sell the same 45 products over and over. I also run daily auctions for people to first find me. My repeat customers then generally go to my store to buy the additional cables that they require. Unless you plan to sell the same jewelry over and over (not likely with high end diamonds, etc.) I do not see a store helping you.

    One note of caution: eBay seriously frowns (and will ban you if they catch you) on diverting buyers to your own website for the actual purchase. It is only fair, after all, if they found the customer for you to have to pay them their commission.
     
    jrbiz, Jan 12, 2007 IP
  16. Pietercornelis

    Pietercornelis Guest

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    #16
    And for diamonds goes, that you have to make sure you don't include any 'conflict diamonds', otherwise you'd be in BIG trouble. Make sure you can trace them to their finding place.
     
    Pietercornelis, Jan 12, 2007 IP
  17. acuman

    acuman Active Member

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    #17
    I agree. All the diamonds there are "non conflict diamonds".

    I will not open an Ebay store. I will probably post individual pieces of jewelry here and there to see how it goes. If I can not sell anything, then I may seek an Ebay seller to do it for me as they have more experience then me who sold 1 cd many years ago on Ebay!

    Thanks for everybody's responses.
     
    acuman, Jan 12, 2007 IP
  18. jrbiz

    jrbiz Acclaimed Member

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    #18
    If you want to see the top-selling people on eBay, I believe that these guys are still the king/queen:

    http://www.jayandmarie.com/

    This is a husband and wife team that started on eBay early and obviously worked it into a significant business.
     
    jrbiz, Jan 12, 2007 IP
  19. devin

    devin Guest

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    #19
    would you say small-timers like those selling off their garage items would meet with little success?
     
    devin, Jan 12, 2007 IP
  20. qwestcommunications

    qwestcommunications Notable Member

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    #20
    You can pretty much selling anything you like on ebay. I won't be too surprised if ebay starts hume autico portal to their site at somepoint in the future. Anyway, there are obvious things like guns that are prohibited.
     
    qwestcommunications, Jan 12, 2007 IP